Signs of Love
by mjd32604
Summary: Based around chapter 367 of the manga. Now that the violet mansion is full who will win over Hayate's feelings? Focus is mainly on Hina and Hayate but other characters will appear as well
1. Chapter 1

This is my first time writing which probably means ill get the characters OOC so bear with me.

So I based the setting around chapter 36x of the manga (can't remember exactly I think its 367 but somewhere around there) and i plan on going off from there.

Anyway any comments, concerns, suggestions, etc are welcomed.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Hayate no Gotoku and if I did, I'd probably screw it up =P

"Do you like Hayate-kun?" Hinagiku asked.

"Yes, I love him." Ruka replied with a smile and a slight blush.

The bluntness of the response caught Hinagiku off guard as a small sweat drop came down from her head. "I see… and this is completely different from Salisbury steak right?" Hina said instinctively as she was remembering her previous thoughts.

"Um… Salisbury steak?" Ruka said with a completely dumbfounded look. "What are you talking about Hina?"

"Eh? No… Nothing n-nevermind!" Completely shocked at what she just heard Hina desperately tried to change the subject. "A-Anyway what about the name you wanted to show me?"

"Ah, its right here." Ruka hands her the new doujinshi she's been working on. "Let's see…" Hina said as she sat down reading each page of the manuscript thoroughly. _Heeeh… she's getting really good, I'm amazed how easy it is to read compared to before _she thought as she took a sip of her barley tea.

"So, do YOU like Hayate-kun?" Ruka asked as she leaned over Hina's shoulder while she was reading.

*PFFFFFFT* the sound echoed through the room as Hina's tea made its way all over her desk. "Wh-Wh-What are you asking all of a sudden!?" She said completely flustered as she looked away from Ruka, hoping she wouldn't notice her flushed and bright red face. "O-of course not! Why would I like him!?" she said stubbornly. _This girl is REALLY straightforward; I guess it comes naturally for her._

"Heeeh… is that so? Then you won't mind if I make a move for him then?" Ruka asked.

"Wh-why would I mind?" Hina responded with a shocked expression.

"Well, it's just that you two seemed really close is all. I mean most of the times I've seen you two you were always together so I just assumed you two had something going on. Plus... it feels like he treats you differently from everyone else" Ruka said leaning on the wall while staring at the ceiling as if deep in thought.

"It-it's not like that…" Hina responded with a slightly sad tone. "We're just…"

*KNOCK KNOCK* the door sounded as a familiar voice echoed inside the room.

"Hinagiku-san dinner's ready!" yelled the voice behind the door. "Okay thanks!" she responded. "By the way have you seen…" the voice was asking as Ruka slid the door open, revealing Hayate behind it. "Ah there you are Ruka-san! You weren't in your room so I was looking for you. Anyway dinner's ready!" he said with his usual bright smile.

"Thanks... by the way did you hear anything we were talking about just now?" Ruka asked. "No, not a word, a butler must respect everyone's privacy after all! Just come down when both of you are ready" Hayate said smiling as he headed back towards the dining room.

"Ah you go on ahead, I have to clean up the tea before it gets sticky" Hina said to Ruka trying to regain her composure. "Sure, then I'll see you down there" she replied as she left the room"

Hina sighed deeply, _it looks like Ayumu was right after all, I guess I really can't trust my intuition when it comes to these things._ _Still, why wasn't I honest with her? I guess it's still really hard to show my feminine side to people._ She headed off towards the dining room.

**Two Days Earlier**

Ayumu was on her way to the violet mansion to visit everyone, especially Hayate wondering what they were going to do over the summer break. _Well since I'm going over to visit I should bring some cakes!_

She made her way into the pastry shop and started browsing around. As she was looking at the selection she noticed the prices of all the desserts she was eyeing and a sudden silence fell over.

_Uwah... cakes are EXPENSIVE._ She was about to give up until she noticed at the very end of the counter was her saving grace.

"Excuse me! I'll take 10 of these 80 yen cream puffs!" she said to the clerk.

"Sure let me wrap them up for you, thank you for your business!" the clerk said as Ayumu left the store.

_Well in this case it's the thought that matters most right!?_ Ayumu said to herself as if she was trying to cheer herself up.

Continuing on toward the violet mansion, she saw an advertisement featuring Ruka holding one of the cakes that had eluded her. _Hayate-kun is friends with her isnt he... but maybe someday will come when they're more than friends!_ Ayumu thought to herself, shaking her head _NO NO NO that won't happen I mean it's not like they're together all day!_ she reassured herself and started dashing towards the mansion.

*DING DONG* rang the doorbell as Ayumu pushed it. The door slid open showing Nagi behind the door.

"How you doing Nagi-chan I'm here to play! I brought some cream puffs to eat with every-"

*SHUT* the door slid closed before Ayumu could finish her sentence.

"Hey! Why did you close the door!? I brought these for everyone can you at least let me in and get some tea ready?" she yelled while slamming on the door.

_Ugh why is the hamster here... _Nagi thought to herself behind the closed door.

"I'm ba- huh? Ayumu?" said a voice behind Ayumu as she turned around.

"Hina-san! Look at this Nagi-chan is bullying me!" she pleaded to Hinagiku.

"I was not! FINE come in!" yelled Nagi as the door slid open again. The two of them walked in.

"Heeeh this apartment is pretty nice!" Ayumu said as she walked in. "And even you're living here Hina-san!"

"W-well yeah it just kind of ended up that way" she replied. _Even though I was blackmailed into it… _reminding herself how she was blackmailed by a little girl. "But you don't seem too surprised Ayumu."

"Is that so? Well to be completely honest I'm really jealous but knowing you Hina-san nothing will happen with you if you're just living with him!" Ayumu said teasingly.

Hinagiku was shocked by her comment. "Wh-what are you talking about!? W-were living in the same house you know!" she yelled frantically.

"Then did anything happen?" Ayumu asked bluntly.

"Well... no." Hina said sounding disappointed.

"See? Nothing to worry about!" she said laughingly. "But it sure would be nice to live here…" she said with envy.

"Oh? We do have one room available if you do want to live here" Nagi claimed. "It's only 45 thousand yen a month."

_Uwahh 45 thousand… I couldn't even buy cakes for 4500! But to live here with Hayate-kun would be nice…_ "By the way where is Hayate-kun?" she asked in the middle of thought.

"He's getting a room ready for a new resident" answered Nagi. "New resident?" Hinagiku and Ayumu asked at the same time.

Both of them headed towards the hallway as they found Hayate talking with someone else. "Well this is your room now." Hayate proclaimed.

"Thanks a lot Hayate-kun" said Ruka as she walked out of the room, noticing Hinagiku and Ayumu.

"Hello, my name is Ruka Suirenji and I'll be living here from today on!" she said with a smile toward them.

Ayumu's expression was beyond shocked _Living here!? Today!?_ She thought frantically to herself.

"Really you're moving in Ruka? This should be fun!" Hinagiku said as she walked towards Ruka.

As Hina was about to shake Ruka's hand she felt a sudden force pulling her away and found herself being dragged across the hallway. By the time she realized what was going on Ayumu was already in her face yelling "Hina-san! We can't have that idol living here!"

"Eh? Why not?" asked Hinagiku.

"Because she likes Hayate-kun!" Ayumu said pleadingly to her.

There was a brief silence between them before Hina finally replied "Eh? She does? Really?" she asked completely dumbfounded.

"How dense are you Hina-san!?" Ayumu yelled. _This is terrible! Hina-san is hopeless I have to do something!_ She thought to herself as she dashed towards the entrance.

"Nagi-chan! I'm renting the last room!" she shouted.

"That's fine as long as you can pay the rent…" Nagi responded with a worried look while staring at the receipt left in the bag of the cream puffs Ayumu had brought. _80 yen each…_ she thought to herself.

"I know what you're thinking Nagi-chan! You don't think I can afford the rent, but I'll show you! Challenge accepted! I'll be back with the rent!" Ayumu proclaimed as she left.

**Back to Present**

As Hinagiku entered the dining room she only saw 4 other people there, Chiharu, Alice, Maria, and Hayate. "Eh where's everyone else?" She asked the group.

"Nagi is in her room working on her manga with Kayura" replied Chiharu. "When Ruka heard that she yelled 'I won't lose!' and headed back to her room as well. I guess both of them are really motivated, though I wonder if Nagi is actually getting anything done…" she said with a sigh.

"Haha, well knowing Ojou-sama she's probably playing Monster Hunter or watching some anime" Hayate replied while setting the food down for Hinagiku. "Here you go, your favorite curry!" he said with a smile.

"Thanks" she said while sitting down. _This curry… it's the same one as…_ as she was thinking that she heard footsteps coming from the hallway.

"Thanks for the food!" yelled Ruka as she was bringing her dishes back to the kitchen "It was really good!" "Wow you're done eating already? I just got to the table!" said a surprised Hinagiku.

"Yeah I wanted to get more work done and plus it was really delicious! I've never had curry that good before!" Ruka said while looking at Hina's plate. "Eh? Why does Hina's curry look different from everyone else's?" she asked with a puzzled look.

_She's right…_ Hinagiku thought to herself as she looked at Chiharu's and Alice's plates _they're not the same… _

"Ah that's because I used a different base for it. Hinagiku-san's tastes are unexpectedly boyish so I made hers separate" He said laughingly.

"So what if I have boyish tastes!" yelled Hinagiku as a slight blush started to appear on her face.

"Heeeh… you're pretty knowledgeable about her tastes Hayate-kun" Ruka said.

"Of course! It's my duty as a butler to learn the tastes of the tenants in this house. Also, I found out what kind of curry she liked a while ago when I was st-"

*AHEM* Hinagiku coughed loudly as she interrupted Hayate knowing what he was about to say.

"Thanks for the food Hayate-kun!" she said with a frightening grin as she looked straight at Hayate.

"Yo-you're welcome Hinagiku-san" as a sweatdrop went down his head. _That was close… and very dangerous. I forgot that it was still a secret that I stayed at Hinagiku-san's house a while ago _Hayate thought to himself.

"Anyway Hayate-kun, I heard from Nagi that that Nishizawa girl is moving in tomorrow can you get the last room ready whenever you're free?" Maria asked. "Sure, I'll get on that later" replied Hayate.

_So Ayumu is moving in too huh…_ Hina thought to herself. "Well I'm headed back to my room" Hina said to the group. As she started turning around Hayate said "before you go can you take A-tan to bed?"

"Alice-chan?" she said as she looked over to where Alice was sitting, only to find her laying down fast asleep.

"When did she fall asleep?" Hina asked as she picked her up carefully as to not wake her.

"Well it's the mother's duty to put her daughter to bed!" Chiharu said jokingly with a smile on her face. "Sheesh, I can't believe you're still going on about that. That joke is 60 chapters old" Hina sighed as she walked away.

"Um Hinagiku-san I think Ojou-sama and Chiharu-san are rubbing off on you…" Hayate said to her as she walked away.

After Hinagiku put Alice in her bed, she went back to her own futon and laid down, thinking about what happened tonight. She sighed deeply thinking about what Ruka had said to her. '_I thought for sure you two had something going on'_, "Ayumu said that to me too when I told her I was in love with Hayate-kun. But I'm sure it's only because he's so nice to everyone that it causes misunderstandings. There's no way he actually has feelings for me…" she said to herself.

'_So you don't mind if I make a move for him then?' _she sighed remembering Ruka's words. _Well, it's not like I have a right to stop her from doing anything… but I feel kind of…_ She gripped her pillow tightly as she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Well still no reviews yet so it's hard to say if I should change it up or not. I had a bunch of good event ideas in my head, but I completely forgot most of them. I guess that's why people write down their ideas the moment they get them (once again new to this whole thing) anyway I just hope you guys are enjoying it!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Hayate no Gotoku that honor goes to Hata Kenjiro.**

**Chapter 2**

"Summer break is finally here!" Ayumu said cheerfully to herself as she was heading back towards the violet mansion. "Heheh I get to spend my entire summer with Hayate-kun!" she thought as she opened the door.

"Im bac-!" she yelled as she went in only to find an ominous dark cloud looming over the living room. There she saw everyone from Hakuou sitting around and staring at the table groaning.

"Um, what's wrong everyo- WAH!" It was a horrifying sight, the likes of which Ayumu has never seen before. On the table stood copies of what appeared to be copies of books, extremely large books.

"What are those blunt weapons!?" she cried out completely horrified at the sight.

Hayate sighed as he answered discouragingly "that's Hakuou's summer homework apparently, I'm just as shocked as you are Nishizawa-san."

"EHHHHH!? THAT'S your summer homework!? There's no way that can be legal!" Ayumu said taken back.

"It's called _The Enemy of Summer Vacation_" Nagi said. "But they really should change the name, it's way too fitting. I mean look at this!" Nagi struggled to pick up the book as she showed Ayumu the cover, which, fitting enough, had a picture of a demon wielding a large weapon. "As expected of the final boss guarding the door to summer break, this is a horrific amount of homework! Not even the trans-AM raiser could cut through this thing!" she complained as she threw down the demon-covered weapon.

On another side of the table sat Hinagiku who had already started going through it, while everyone else hadn't even opened the book yet. "Well we just have to get through it real quick before we can enjoy our vacation."

Everyone stood in awe as they saw her working through the ominous foe. She was going through the problems at blazing speed, almost as if her pen were on fire. Before anyone realized she was already through a fifth of the book.

"A-as expected of the student council president" Chiharu claimed while adjusting her glasses. "I suppose we should get started as well."

Everyone sighed as they sat down around the table and began to work diligently through their homework. "Well everyone do your best to slay the enemy of summer vacation so we can go have fun!" Ayumu wished them good luck and started to head back to her room.

"Why don't you work on your summer homework with us too Nishizawa-san?" Hayate asked.

Ayumu turned around with a stunned expression. "Eh? But I have all the way till September before I have to even think about it!"

_She doesn't plan on doing it until the last day… _everyone thought the same thing as they sighed with envy.

_Uwah… this is really difficult and exhausting_ Hayate thought to as he took a look around to see how everyone else was doing. Nagi of course had the same expression of disgust as when they first started, while Kayura laid slumped over the table. Chiharu gave an exhausted sigh as she started stretch out her arms. Hinagiku was still blazing through the problems without the slightest hesitation, smiling as she finished page after page.

_As I thought Hinagiku-san really is amazing__… _Hayate was lost in thought while continuing to watch her.

"Oi, Hayate can you bring us some tea?" Nagi asked.

Nagi's request startled Hayate as he regained his senses. "O-of course ojou-sama I'll be right back" he replied as he headed off towards the kitchen.

_I shouldn't be dazing off like that, the last thing I need is for Hinagiku-san to get even angrier at me. _

As Hayate headed off he noticed Ruka standing near the hallway watching everyone. "Ah Ruka-san what are you doing?"

"Just wondering what everyone was up to, I was taking a little break from my manga and started to get thirsty" she replied.

"Well I was just about to make some tea for everyone else, would you like some as well?" Hayate gave her his usual smile.

"Yeah that would be great thanks" she said as she followed him into the kitchen. "So is that your summer homework?"

"Unfortunately, yes it is" Hayate sighed as he started preparing the tea. "Though to be perfectly honest it feels like summer punishment."

Ruka laughed slightly "well I wouldn't know since I dropped out of high school, so all I have to worry is my manga. So how's it coming along?"

Hayate smiled at her. "Well as you'd expect Hinagiku-san is doing great. I wouldn't be surprised if she finishes by the end of the day, she really is amazing. Chiharu-san is also doing pretty well I think, though I'm worried if ojou-sama even got anything done. As for Kayura-san and me, well let's just say it's not going so well" he laughed weakly while rubbing the back of his head.

"Hehh… is that so" she said in a soft tone.

As Hayate finishes preparing the tea he notices Ruka with her arms crossed thinking about something. "Um, is something wrong Ruka-san?"

She gives him a stern look. "Hey Hayate-kun, how do you feel about Hina?"

"Eh? Hinagiku-san?" He gave her a confused look. "Well she's smart, dependable, very beautiful, really scary someti-"

"That's not what I'm asking Hayate-kun" Ruka interrupts abruptly. "I'm asking what your feelings towards her are" giving him another stern look.

"W-well I'm very grateful to her, after all she has helped me so many times and yet it feels like all I do is cause her trouble and make her angry" he said still with a confused look.

"You're not answering the question!" Ruka yelled slightly irritated. She sighs, realizing that she just has to ask straight out in order to get any real answer from him.

"Look, I was watching you guys earlier at the living room and I saw you stare at Hina for a while. Also it always feels like you're always around her whenever I see you, and even now when I asked how the homework was going she was the first person you brought up!" She takes a deep breath. "I have to know, do you li-"

"Oi Hayate is the tea ready yet!?" Nagi's voice echoed through the house interrupting Ruka's question.

"Y-yes ojou-sama it's coming right now!" Hayate yelled back as he poured a cup of tea and put it to the side and placed the pitcher and a couple of more cups on a tray. "Sorry Ruka-san your tea is on the counter!" he yelled as he hurried back to everyone else.

"You're so slow Hayate what were you doing?" Nagi asked. "There's no way you could've done it again while inside the house!"

"No it's not like that I just got a bit side tracked is all" he said while pouring the tea. _Still what was Ruka-san trying to ask me? From the gist of it had something to do with Hinagiku-san…_

"Hmph, I bet you were just trying to take a break from the homework! How dare you try to do that without me?" Nagi cried out.

Chiharu gazed at Nagi and said "um… I don't think Hayate-kun is like you. Plus how do you take a break from something that you haven't even started yet?"

Nagi and Kayura both stood up at the same time and said "hmph that's easy! Like This!" They yelled as they both dashed towards Nagi's room.

"Um… ojou-sama your tea…" Hayate and Chiharu both sighed. "I'm amazed once again at how much time she's able to waste. It's a miracle you and Maria-san are able to get her to do anything at all" Chiharu said.

"Haha that's true… though Maria-san has a much easier time than I do" Hayate glanced over at Hinagiku who was still working on the homework, unfazed at the event that just happened. _What was Ruka-san wanted to ask, something about how I feel about Hinagiku-san? Then was she asking if I liked her?_

"Hayate-kun can I have some tea please?" Hinagiku's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"O-of course!" Hayate blushed slightly as he poured her a cup of tea.

"Here you go, Hinagiku-san" placing the tea in front of her.

"Thanks Hayate-kun" she replied with a smile.

_Do I like Hinagiku-san__…__? Well she is really pretty, plus she's helped me out so many times it almost feels natural for her to be there__..._ Hayate started to space out again lost in thought.

"Um is something wrong Hayate-kun?" Hinagiku asked. "You've been staring over here for a while now…"

"Ah s-sorry I kind of spaced out there for a bit" clearly flustered Hayate looked away from her trying to hide his obviously red face only to find Chiharu looking straight at him.

"Your face is awfully red Hayate-kun, Don't tell me you were thinking of perverted stuff while staring at Hina" Chiharu said teasingly.

"N-no that's not it at all! I would never think of Hinagiku-san like that!" he yelled frantically waving his hands.

*TWITCH*

Hayate heard a small snap sound and suddenly felt an enormous amount of killing intent coming from his side.

"What are you saying Hayate-kun!? Are you saying that my body isn't worth looking at!? Hinagiku said with a demonic presence.

"N-no that's not what I meant at all! I jus-"Before Hayate could dig his own grave even further he heard the greatest sound he could at that moment.

*DING DONG*

"Ah! Someone is at the door!" Hayate yelled as he dashed towards the door hoping to escape.

Hinagiku took a deep breath and sighed. _Baka__…_


	3. Chapter 3

Hmm not much to say been kinda busy, wondered if i should have ended this chapter where I did but I guess we'll see how that goes. As always please let me know if I can do anything better as I'm kinda worried about that haha. Anyway happy turkey day to those who are in the states and I guess that's it for now enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hayate no Gotoku.**

**Chapter 3**

Hayate headed to the front door thinking about the situation he just narrowly escaped. _Uwah… forget about what I think, I'm __more worried about how much she must hate me by now! _Hayate sighed as he opened the door.

"Yo Hayata-kun! We've come to play!" Outside the door stood the three student council members, Risa Asakaze, Hanabishi Miki, and Segawa Izumi, famous for always being together and for being incredibly stupid.

"Ah, it's the student council trio! This is the first time you guys have ever shown up at a good time!" Hayate claimed happily. _Well that's what I say, although they usually only just cause more trouble for me so I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not…_ "Please come on in"

As Hayate turned around to lead them in he felt a hand over his shoulder.

"Wait a moment Hayata-kun" Risa said with an annoyed look. "What do you mean the first time we've shown up at a good time? And what was with that greeting? Even you're starting to treat us as a single entity!?" The three of them glared at Hayate.

"She's right Hayata-kun" Miki said nodding her head. "I hope atleast that you don't think that I'm as stupid as those two!"

Just as Izumi and Risa were about to complain, Hayate quickly interrupted them. He placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head as he started remembering a similar event. "Could the three of you please stop right there? I already know where this is going, I'm going to end up as some sort of punishment tool while you three prove how incredibly stupid you are." Hayate groaned with agony as he said that.

"EHH!? That was really mean Hayata-kun!" the three of them said at once.

"It may have been mean, but it's the truth. So are you three coming in or not?"

"Tch, Hayata-kun is such a downer today" Risa said as the three of them walked inside.

"Well based on how he's acting I'd say either something happened to him or he managed to make Hina angry again" Miki said.

"Uwe" Hayate paused for a moment at the comment before continuing to walk on, pretending not to hear it.

"Bingo" the three of them whispered to themselves as they laughed and followed along. "Well Hina's not mad at us so we should be safe."

As the four of them entered the living room, it was still only Hinagiku and Chiharu sitting around the table. Izumi started to wave her hand as she called out to Hinagiku. "Hina-chan! We've come to-" before she could finish Hinagiku looked up at them with a stern look.

"No!" Hinagiku yelled as she stared down the four of them. As soon as she said that the three girls hid behind Hayata cowering from Hinagiku's reaction.

"Hayata-kun what the heck did you do to her!?" Izumi yelled as she held Hayate's arm in front of her.

"Eh!? Me!? You were the one she yelled at! I didn't even ask or say anything that could even get a response like that!" Hayate said with a confused look.

Chiharu stood up and said "well I can pretty much guess why Hina said that." She adjusted her glasses and looked at the SC trio. "You just wanted to copy her summer homework right?"

"Ah" the three of them had a sweat drop on their foreheads as they waved their hands "o-of course that's not why we're here!" The three of them gave weak laughs as they tried to deny Chiharu's accusation.

"Hehh… is that why they're here?" Hayate turned around to face them, revealing a look of extreme pity.

"Wh-what's with that look Hayata-kun!" Risa yelled.

"Noooothing at all, we clearly didn't just have that talk about how you three were going to prove how incredibly stupid you are" Hayate said in a mocking tone.

"What's with that high and mighty attitude? I bet you're having trouble with the homework too!" Miki yelled out while pointing at Hayate.

"Sure it's not going well, but I wasn't dumb enough to think that Hinagiku-san would let me copy all of her work!"

*SLAM*

A loud noise echoed through the room as everyone looked toward the origin of it. There stood Hinagiku with one hand over a closed summer handbook. She was looking down at the table so none of them were able to see her face; there was a brief moment of silence before everyone started taking small steps away from her. She took a deep breath, inhaling slowly before opening her mouth

"FI-"

"WAAAAAAH!" Everyone in the room yelled in a panic as they all ran out of the room as if a grenade were about to explode. After a moment they all stuck their heads out to see what Hinagiku was going to do. As they looked on Shiranui came from the hallway and jumped on the table in front of Hinagiku.

"Get away cat you're going to get killed!" Risa yelled from behind the counter.

Shiranui rubbed his fur along Hinagiku's arm. She reached down to pick him up and brought him to her face.

"Farewell brave cat, your nine lives won't save you from her wrath. May you rest in peace" Risa said as she put her hands together in prayer.

Shiranui licked Hinagiku's face and meowed. "It's you!" Hinagiku yelled raising Shiranui up into the air, revealing a huge smile on her face. "I'm happy to see you again!" She started to spin around raising Shiranui up and if he were a baby.

Everyone watched in confusion as they wondered what was going on. Hayate chuckled slightly as he stopped hiding, understanding what Hinagiku meant.

"It looks like he remembers you Hinagiku-san" Hayate said as began to walk back in the room.

"So it really is him! Does that mean you've been taking care of them this whole time?" Hinagiku cuddled with Shiranui with a smile.

"More or less, it was actually ojou-sama who took him in and named him Shiranui."

"Shiranui?" She rose up Shiranui again and began inspecting him, then turned to Hayate giving him a confused look. "…but he's a black cat."

Hayate put his hand on the back of his head and gave her a smile "haha that's the exact same thing I said to ojou-sama."

"It looks like the bomb has successfully been defused!" Risa said while getting out from hiding behind the counter. "Good job!" she gave Shiranui a thumb up.

"Huh? Bomb? What are you talking about?" Hinagiku gave Risa a confused look.

Miki and Izumi quickly grabbed Risa from behind and put their hands over her mouth. "Hey why are you reminding her that she was about to yell at us!?"

"Yell at you? Why was I going to yell at you?" Hinagiku asked again.

"Basically…" Chiharu opened the sliding door to the yard and walked in calmly. "They all thought you were going to yell at them for arguing and talking about copying your homework when you took that deep breath, so naturally they all ran away in fear to hide."

Everyone but Hinagiku had a sweat drop appear on their head as they all thought _but you ran away and hid too…_

"Huh? I wasn't going to yell at anyone. I was just going to say that I finished the summer homework, and besides, why did you run away too Chiharu? Also, it's not like I'm always angry." She glared at Chiharu.

"Well that's because…" Chiharu adjusted her glasses once again and gave a fake cough. "You're… incredibly terrifying when you're angry."

A brief silence enveloped the room once again.

_She actually said it…_ is what everyone thought as the heavy silence took over the room. Everyone stood still waiting for Hinagiku's response.

"Nyaa" the silence was broken by Shiranui. Hinagiku raised him up and said "Atleast you don't think I'm scary right?" with a smile. "Nyaa" he replied and licked Hinagiku's face again. She rubbed her face on his fur with a smile and then put him down.

"That cat must be a member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit" Risa said giving another thumb up to Shiranui.

As Shiranui began to walk around he eventually made his way near Izumi, who then recognized him. "Ah! It's the perverted phone stealing cat!" Izumi yelled out as she hid behind Miki.

"Ahh so it is, I almost completely forgot about that" Miki said while petting Shiranui.

"Um, Once again I'm sorry about that Segawa-san" Hayate bowed while apologizing.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Hinagiku asked. "What did you mean by perverted phone stealing cat?"

"Ah, we never did tell Hina about that did we?" Miki replied. "Well basically this cat dove under Izumi's clothes, felt her up and then stole her cell phone."

Hinagiku gave them a confused look. "Um why would a kitten need a cell phone? More importantly does he even know how to use one?"

*ACHOO*

A faint sneeze could be heard from the storage room.

"I don't know but I had to go through a terrible experience because of him!" Izumi yelled out, remembering her time stuck on a tree in the mountains.

"Terrible experience? What are you talking about Izumi?" Risa said with a grin on her face. "Sure you got stuck in the mountains for a while, but did you forget that it was because of that that Hayata-kun came over to your place?"

_Hayate was at Izumi's house?_ A slight blush formed on Hinagiku's face. _Now that I think about it they did say something about that when we were in Turkey but they were so vague about it. Something about maids, a wedding dress and underwear_. Her face turned even redder as her imagination began to run wild.

"Risa is right Izumi" Miki said nodding her head. "Because of that you got to be his personal maid, and you even brought him into your room."

_Room? Hayate-kun was in Izumi's room?_ At this point the color of Hinagiku's face matched the color of her hair.

"That's right" Risa said also nodding her head. "And while he was gazing upon you, you took off your uniform an-"

"She was just changing her clothes!" Hayate interrupted frantically.

"Ara, but you were inside with her Hayata-kun" Risa replied.

"That's why I left until she was finished!"

Risa continued with the story. "Then after, Izumi's father came inside and proclaimed that he wouldn't hand Izumi over to him. And there, Hayata-kun boldly challenged him declaring that if he won Izumi's father would forgive his daughter and Hayata-kun would take responsibility for what he did to her, and put her in a wedding dress. Before the final battle Izumi boldly stated her love for Hayata-kun, bringing him to tears and she embraced hi-"

"That's not what happened at all!" Izumi yelled as she flung her arms wildly with her face completely flushed.

_Love? Responsibility!? Wedding!?_ Hinagiku's imagination completely took over as she faced away from the group hoping to hide her tomato colored face. _Does that mean Izumi and Hayate-kun already..?_

Miki snuck up behind Hinagiku who was thinking too much to notice, brought her head behind Hinagiku's ears and whispered "what are you imagining?"

"HYA!" Hinagiku let out a cute yell, jumped and turned around yelling "d-don't s-sneak up on me like that!"

"Your face is completely red Hina" Miki said with a smirk. "What's wrong? Jealous that Izumi had Hayata-kun in tears from her confession at her house?"

"W-why would I be jealous of that!? A-anyway it's not like that was what really happened right?" Hinagiku said trying to regain her composure.

"That's right!" Izumi cried out. "The only reason I hugged Hayata-kun is because he started crying when I asked if he liked Hina-chan and about his former-"

"I told you not to talk about those embarrassing things!" Hayate quickly interrupted.

_Eh? If Hayate-kun liked me?_ This part obviously caught Hinagiku's attention as she stared at the ground.

"Tch the mood's gone, I wanted to tease Hina some more too" Miki sighed.

"That's true, with the atmosphere now there's no way we can continue on" Risa agreed.

"I was wondering why it was so noisy; it was because you three were here huh?" A voice from the hallway said.

Everyone turned to see Ayumu looking over them.

"Ayumu-chan! Hello!" Izumi waved at her.

"Hello Izumi-san, so what were you guys talking about?" Ayumu asked with a smile.

Miki and Risa had an instantaneous reaction to the question as they both smirked mischievously at each other clearly thinking the same thing. Their plan was to tease Ayumu as they just did to Hinagiku, allowing them to continue the story.

"Well you see Ayumu…" the both of them walked up to with hands in front of them as if a stalker were about to lay their hands on their prey.

Before they got to her Shiranui ran passed them and up to Ayumu, who then picked him up with a huge smile on her face.

"Ah! Hina-san look! Look! It's the kitten you found when Hayate-kun slept over at your house!"

*CRASH*

The sound of shattering glass could be heard from the minds of Miki and Risa as their expressions went blank and their mouths hung open from the unexpected counter attack.

Silence loomed for a bit before it was broken by a harmonious sound.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"


	4. Chapter 4

First of all happy super belated new year to everyone! Yeah yeah I know it's really late but better than never right? Sorry for the long time to update I actually ended up really busy in December (well isn't everyone really?) and I ended up breaking my arm in the middle of January so I couldn't really do much of anything on the story, anyway it's healedish so I can write again! Though I'm still really busy so I'm not sure how fast I can put chapters out but hopefully it won't be 4 months? There's actually something I really want to try writing which was the whole reason I started writing this, but I'm finding it really hard to get to that point without using some sort of lame plot device or something I dunno guess we'll just have to see. Also, the latest manga chapters have been kinda making me change the way I see some of the characters (in the bad way) but hopefully since this is technically before that it should be fine! Anyway thanks for all the reviews sorry I couldn't reply to most of them (again broken arm) but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate them! Well that's enough of my blabbering so as always suggestions, comments, concerns are all greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer** **applies** (I don't own Hayate no Gotoku!)

**Chapter 4**

"What's wrong everyone?" Ayumu asked with a questioning look. She looked on as everyone stared at her with shocked expressions.

Completely oblivious to the situation she asked "ah, is it possible that you didn't know it was Hina-san who found this kitten!?"

Silence filled the room once again as the sound of wind passing by could be heard.

Izumi waved her hand back and forth "um, Ayumu-chan I don't think that part is what everyone is shocked about…"

"Eh?" Ayumu stood there still wondering about everyone's expressions. It took her five seconds before finally realizing the situation, turning over to Hinagiku.

"Err, Hina-san was that sleepover possibly a secret-"

"What do you think!? Of course it was!" Hinagiku yelled out completely embarrassed.

"Wah, I'm sorry!" Ayumu said repeatedly.

"Well this certainly is a surprise." Risa turned over to Hinagiku and Hayate, who were trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.

Miki followed suit gazing in the duo's direction. "Indeed, this is quite the revelation..."

Hinagiku stood there trying to find a way to explain the situation to the student council members but all she could think of was _this is bad, if it's these three they're definitely not going to believe that nothing happened. Think… there's got to be a way to explain this before they start making up their own stories!_

Of course it was already too late for that.

"Well if it was a secret, then naturally there must've been something which needed to be hidden." Miki turned to Hayate with accusing eyes.

"Isnt that right, Hayata-kun?"

Hayate gave his usual under pressure smile while gazing over to Hinagiku for any sort of hint as to what to say, but Hina was still staring at the ground desperately trying to think of a way out of the situation.

"W-What are you talking about Hanabishi-san? Of course there's nothing to hide!"

"It's only more suspicious if you deny it so ardently Hayata-kun" Miki said with a smirk.

"It's true! Hinagiku-san was just helping me out and it was only for two nights!"

"Hayate-kun, are you an idiot!?" Hinagiku finally yelled out for obvious reasons. "And before you three say anything Ayumu was there too so whatever you're thinking didn't happen okay!" She looked over to Ayumu along with everyone else.

"Hina-san…" Ayumu looked at everyone's expecting faces "Um… I was only there the second night and it was already really late so I can't really say what happened…"

"Hey Ayumu!" Hinagiku yelled completely flustered, glaring over and giving her a 'you were supposed to help me out!' look.

'But… I can't just lie to them!' was Ayumu's facial response.

Risa took a step forward and pointed at Hayate "there is only one logical explanation for this! Right Izumi?"

"Mhm! It can only be that!" Izumi nodded with her trademark smile.

Hinagiku gave a heavy sigh before responding. "What kind of wrong ideas are you getting now?"

"Hmhmhm obviously…" Risa paused for a few seconds. "We have finally discovered the mysterious origins of Alice-chan!"

"You already know that isn't true so why are you bringing that up again!?" Hina yelled out.

"I see... that actually makes some sense." Chiharu said unexpectedly, holding her glasses in place.

"Chi-Chiharu? Don't tell me you're going to agree with them!"

"No, I know Alice isn't your daughter, but if you're that close with Ayasaki-kun then what I saw the other night is starting to make sense."

Hinagiku was now confused about what Chiharu was talking about. "The other night? What do you mean?"

"Well if you think about it, there's no other reason why I found you sleeping in Aya-"

"WAHABORHEA!" Hayate interrupted jumping in front of Chiharu yelling a bunch of incoherent words. _If she remembers about that night then that stupid ghost priest will be in trouble again! _

"You sure are lively down here" a voice came from the hallway.

"Maria-san!" _Crap I never told her how I gave away the one million yen she gave me that time!_

"What were you all talking about?" Maria asked.

"Nothi-" Hayate was quickly interrupted by Miki.

"We were talking about how Hayata-kun spent two nights at Hina's house, and needed to know what happened. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"Two nights…?" Maria glanced over at Hayate to see him with a smile that clearly said 'Please help me!' Of course given that she had always wondered where Hayate stayed during those three days he was kicked out she was able to finally connect the dots and understand the situation.

"Ah you must be talking about when we asked if Hayate-kun could stay over at Hinagiku-san's place because Nagi couldn't bear to see his face for three days."

"Eh?" The SC trio said in unison, even Hinagiku gave a confused look but managed to hide it.

"By the way Hayate-kun Nagi is calling for you so could you come with me please?" Maria was smiling at Hayate, but for some reason it felt like some sort of death gaze.

"S-sure."

The two of them walked into the hallway and when they got far enough away from the others Maria immediately grabbed his ear and started squeezing it. "So you were staying at Hinagiku-san's house that time were you? How come you never told me?" She continually gave him a cold stare waiting for a response.

"I-it just turned out that way! She found me at the park and I had nowhere else to go because…"

"Because you gave away all the money we gave you right?" Maria finished his sentence for him.

"How did you know about that!?"

"Because the next day all the money you gave out was immediately returned to the mansion." She was still pulling on his ear.

"W-why are you so angry about this!?"

She finally let go of his ear and turned around, giving a slight grunt before saying "I'm not angry!"

Back with the Hina and the others, the SC trio begins their interrogation.

"So what you're saying is they asked you if Hayata-kun could stay over?" Miki started off.

"Y-yeah that's right and it was my mother that agreed to let him stay!" Hina responded finally having control over the situation thanks to Maria.

"And you're expecting us to believe that nothing happened when a boy stayed over at your place?" Risa followed.

"That's what I've been telling you from the start!"

…

…

…

…

"We're going home" The three of them said in unison along with a really exaggerated sigh.

"What's with that reaction!? What were you expecting to hear!?" Hina yelled out.

"Hina… if we had our camera that story would have taken our number one spot of our **Most Disappointing Stories** segment." Miki replied.

"That's right, it was so disappointing that we have no more energy left and we're going home" was Risa's comment.

"Ni ha ha see you later Hina-chan!" Izumi claimed happily as the three of them left the apartment.

"Those three… in the end they just said what they want and left with zero productivity." Hina sighed heavily.

"But that's exactly like them isn't it?" Chiharu replied with a small laugh. She then turned to Hina and stared at her.

"Wh-what is it?" Hina asked reluctantly.

"So, is that really what happened?" Chiharu asked.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Hina responded hesitantly.

Chiharu sighed before responding. "I'm not sure how anyone else can't see this, but you're a terrible liar Hina."

"Hah!?"

"Well if you don't want to say it's perfectly fine, I'm not going to pry. I completely understand that you wouldn't want to tell those three." Chiharu eased her gaze, returning to her casual expression.

Hina gave a sigh of relief.

"By the way Chiharu, what were you saying before Maria-san showed up?"

"Ah… never mind about that it was nothing." Chiharu decided it was a good idea not to bring that night up now. "Anyway I'm going to go check up on Ruka" she said as she left the room.

"Hina-san… sorry I wasn't any help." Ayumu apologized again.

"Don't worry about it, it's over now. They probably would have found out sooner or later, though I should thank Maria-san later."

"Yeah she did help you two out back there, anyway I'm going to go out for a bit so I'll see you later Hina-san."

"Okay, take care." Ayumu waved as she left the apartment.

Hina went out to the patio and took a seat at the edge of the flooring. She looked to the sky to see it getting darker. _It's gotten pretty late__…_ she thought to herself as she lay back on the floor, placing the back of her hand against her forehead. _Summer vacation huh… I wonder what I should do… _she felt her eyes get heavy as they began to close.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Ruka, are you in there?"

"Is that you Chiharu? Come on in."

Chiharu slid open the door and entered Ruka's room.

"Sorry for barging in, I just wanted to see how you were doing." Chiharu took a seat by the table. "So how's the doujinshi coming along? Hopefully you're getting more done than Nagi."

"Actually, I've been thinking about something else for a while now." Ruka tilted her chair back and stared at the ceiling.

"Something else? Like what?"

"Well, I've been thinking about confessing my love to Hayate-kun. How do you think I should do it?"

"Eh?" _Ugh so it came to this after all…_ Chiharu thought to herself. "Uh… I… don't really have experience in that sort of thing sorry, but are you sure? From what I could tell he seemed to be pretty popular but he didn't really seem interested in that sort of thing."

Ruka smiled softly "yeah he's a really kind person… But I really want my feelings to get across."

"Well I won't try and stop you but from what I've seen he's pretty close to a lot of girls so I can't say whether he'll accept your feelings or not…"

"Really? Is there anyone you think he's really close to?" Ruka asked curiously.

"Well… it's not like I'm watching him 24/7 so I can't really say for sure. Obviously there's Nagi and Maria-san, those three have been together since he became Nagi's butler. Actually I saw a time where Nagi and Ayasaki-kun were able to communicate with barely using any words, it was really surprising."

Chiharu took a moment to pause and think for a bit.

"There's also Nishizawa-san who I heard went to the same school Ayasaki-kun went to before he transferred to Hakuo."

Chiharu took another moment to gather her thoughts.

"Also… I'm actually not too sure about this, but there's probably… Hina."

"Probably? You mean you don't know either?" Ruka gave a small sigh, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Well… it's hard to say really. During school, because I'm part of the student council I often go to the student council building. But every time I was there, I found Ayasaki-kun there with Hina. It honestly felt like he was there more than I was even though he's not even a member, which also makes me wonder if the clock tower is even considered student council accessible only anymore. Anyway, based on their interactions I've seen, I'd say that they at least… trust each other a lot."

"Hmm... maybe I'll try asking him again." Ruka's voice was filled with determination.

"Again? You actually asked him before?" Chiharu asked with a surprised face.

"Yeah I also thought that their relationship wasn't ordinary, but he never gave me a clear answer. This time I'm going to get the truth!" Ruka stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait, you're going now!?" Chiharu was even more shocked.

"Of course! I must know the truth!"

_Ngh… somehow I have a bad feeling about this…_

"…giku-san"

Hinagiku heard a voice calling.

"…nagiku-san!"

She opened her eyes, but her vision was still blurry.

"Hinagiku-san!"

She recognized the voice and looked up as her vision cleared to see Hayate leaning over.

"Hayate… kun?"

"You're going to catch a cold if you sleep there Hinagiku-san."

"Eh?" She sat up and looked around realizing she was still on the patio. "I must've dozed off, how long was I asleep?"

Hayate slowly backed away with his hands in front of him, keeping a big smile as he moved.

Hinagiku gave him an irritated look and asked "what are you doing?"

"Sorry… it's just, I felt a small feeling of déjà vu, and thought a sword was about to come flying my way." Hayate gave a weak laugh.

"Somehow it feels like you're mocking me." Hina gave him a strong glare.

"No, absolutely not! Anyway, it's been at least 20 minutes since I left. Speaking of which what happened with Segawa-san and the others?"

Hinagiku stood up, and started stretching. "Not much, I managed to get through to them at least, with not much help from you mind you." She gave Hayate a cold gaze.

"Ahaha… I'm sorry." Hayate put his head down and apologized.

Hina gave a soft smile. "I'm just joking; don't put such a sad face on."

"Still I'm sorry, I'm really grateful for all you did at that time." Hayate said with a bright smile.

Hina's face turned a slight red, making her turn away a bit. "Oh… it was nothing, you're very welcome."

Hayate raised his index finger and said "though I suppose I should be thanking Katsura-san for letting me stay over!"

There was no malice in his words and yet Hina's face quickly went from a smile to a stern look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She gazed over at him.

"Are you saying I wouldn't have let you stay over?"

He could feel Hina's sharp gaze pointing at him. "Eh!? You would have let me stay? But you were so against staying in this apartment with me!"

The response caught Hina off guard as her expression quickly changed.

"Th-that's completely different! After all it's because it was before I… ah!" She cut herself off purposefully.

"Before you… what?" Hayate asked curiously.

_Before I realized I love you_ is what she wanted to say, but couldn't.

"I told you before you should be able to figure it out yourself." She turned away sadly and started to walk away.

Hayate raised his arm after her yelling "Hinagiku-san!"

"I'm headed to the bath, so don't follow me." She ran towards the hallway before stopping abruptly at the corner, almost crashing into Ruka.

"Ah" they both said together.

"Sorry, excuse me" Hina said running passed Ruka.

Ruka watched curiously as Hinagiku walked away, before turning over to Hayate. "Did something happen?"

"No… it's just I think I managed to make Hinagiku-san angry again." He sighed with a somewhat sad expression. "Anyway did you need something Ruka-san?"

_That sure didn't seem like a look of anger… _Ruka thought to herself.

"Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, Hayate-kun."


End file.
